Julius CaesarBy William Shakespeare

Basic Overview Written in 1599. Tragic drama/Historical drama Believed to have been the 1st play performed

at the Globe Theater. Centers on the conspiracy against Roman

leader Julius Caesar, his assassination, and the civil war that ensued following his death.

Shakespeare is thought to have based much of the play on the English translation of Plutarch's The Lives of the Greeks and Romans.

Several years of Roman history are condensed into this play, and it is assumed that the audience

would have been familiar with the basic history surrounding the play's time.

This was true in Elizabethan times.

Let's play history catch up:

Several hundred years before the time of the play:

Rome was ruled by Tarquin the Proud, who was a tyrant.

Tarquin was defeated in a rebellion led by Lucius Junius Brutus (ancestor of Marcus Brutus) in 509 BC.

Rome was then made a Republic.

Still playing catch up...

The Republic was ruled by elected consuls.

The Senate advised the consuls.

Tribunes were elected from the citizenry to protect the rights of the commoners and keep the Senate in check.

Lots to catch up on...

This system had weakened by the 1st century BC, and a triumvirate had formed to rule Rome.

Triumvirate = a group of three people who share administrative responsibilities

This triumvirate = Pompey, Crassus & Julius Caesar

Almost there...

Crassus was killed fighting the Parthians in 53BC; as the other two fought to gain control, civil war broke out.

Julius Caesar defeated Pompey in 48BC and then fought and defeated Pompey's sons.

And so, the play begins with Caesar returning to Rome after his victory.

Shakespeare's Audience

Relevance to HIS current audience:

Julius was written toward the end of Queen Elizabeth I's rule, under which England had experienced relative prosperity. Shakespeare address this political concern by writing about a country's apprehension about what the death of a monarch might bring.

He also wrote about larger themes that refer to human nature, which is one reason that his plays are universal and timeless.

They've Got ISSUES... So Do WeIssues found in Julius Caesar, Elizabethan times, and today.

Betrayal Fear Political Turmoil Reason vs. Passion Sacrificing Personal Morals for the

“Greater Good”

Citations

www.shmoop.com/julius-caesar www.skwirk.com.au/p-c_s-55_u-263_t-663_c-

2480/introduction/nsw/introduction/shakespeare-em-julius-caesar-/em-/summary